MSL parity leading to a fun conclusion

Parity can be a fun thing.

No, we're not talking about that kind of parody.

It's the parity where eight of the 12 boys basketball teams in the Mid-Suburban League are still legitimately in the hunt to claim at least a piece of a division title going into the final two games of the schedule.

Parity that will have people getting their pencils and division-tiebreaker scorecards ready.

Barrington leads the West with Fremd, Conant and Schaumburg all lurking a game behind. Late Friday night, the Broncos could either end up with the title outright, have at least a share of it or be back in a multiple-team tie.

Despite losses last week, Prospect and Hersey remained atop the East going into Friday's crucial matchup in Mount Prospect. Buffalo Grove and Rolling Meadows are trailing by just a game.

The Prospect-Hersey winner is guaranteed a share of the East title. Prospect lost the first meeting 60-59 and has to avoid a sweep that would knock it out of a chance to play in the MSL title game Feb. 23.

And the Prospect-Hersey winner will have some work to do, since a potential four-way tie still exists and the schedule has Prospect ending with BG.

"We still have a chance," BG senior forward Dan Recht said after a pair of big weekend wins over Hersey and Zion-Benton before coaches submitted their sectional seeds.

Nobody would have given Meadows much chance at all to be in the title conversation after it started division play at 0-3. History certainly wouldn't have suggested it after the Mustangs became one of 39 MSL teams since 1991-92 to lose their first three division games.

Only one has rebounded to finish above .500 Conant last year at 6-4. Only one other recovered to finish at .500 Conant in 2005-06.

So even though all of the tiebreakers aren't in Meadows' favor, it can cap its recent red-hot stretch with a fairly significant accomplishment by finishing 7-3 in the East if it beats Wheeling and Elk Grove.

"We have to win these next two conference games and hopefully continue to play well in the playoffs," said Meadows junior guard Tyler Gaedele.

Barrington is also in position for a major accomplishment with a Friday win at Schaumburg. The Broncos last won a division title in 1990-91 and made their only MSL title-game appearance in 1979.

Can the Broncos clinch at least a share of the West by winning for the second straight time at Schaumburg?

Last season's victory was the Broncos' first there in 19 years, and they followed it up with a 64-39 home win Jan. 7.

"We know how good they are and it was one of those nights where everything went our way," said Barrington coach Bryan Tucker. "We know the last time was a fluke in terms of the game and final score."

This looked like a first-place showdown until London Dokubo beat the buzzer and kept Conant in the race with last week's 1-point win over Schaumburg.

The four teams out of the mix can also have a say in who ends up in or out of the title running. Hoffman hosts Fremd and Palatine is at Conant in the West and Wheeling visits BG and Elk Grove hosts Meadows in the East on Friday.

In 1999-2000, Hersey came into the final week the least likely to win the East but did after Elk Grove upset BG and Wheeling stunned Prospect on Ray Grady's interception and 50-foot bank shot at the buzzer.

And the ties that bind can lead to some strange occurrences to unwind who goes to the MSL title game.

Take the end of the 2002-03 season, when Hersey needed to win its final game at Elk Grove by at least 7 points so it intentionally missed a free throw and missed 2 more shots in close in the final seconds in an unsuccessful attempt to add to a 5-point winning margin.

That was one of five times there has been a three-way tie for a division crown since the MSL split into divisions in 1970-71.

And now there's a chance for a pair of unprecedented four-way boys basketball ties.

"It's fun to be in the mix at the end of February and hopefully the end of March," said BG coach Ryan O'Connor. "You want to be playing for something and we are right now."

The Bison are far from alone in the MSL this year.

mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com